Changing Faces (New Game Minus Book 1)

by Sarah Lin

Though it sent blood scattering to the ground, the quarter-orc managed to maintain his footing and draw another knife with his free arm. There was no trace of greed in his eyes, only murder. The greencloak came at him low and fast, darting out his knife in a way that would have disemboweled most warriors.

  Not Bloodwraith. He sent out a burst of force that knocked Gyassan back against against the wall, then thrust for his stomach. The greencloak dodged, but not quite fast enough - the sword bit into his other side, partially pinning him to the wall.

  "Answer my questions and I'll leave you alive." Bloodwraith jerked the hilt of his greatsword, driving it a little deeper. "Lie to me and I'll kill you slowly. What the hell are you doing?"

  Gyassan glared at him, but eventually answered. "The job was to make sure you died in here."

  "Why?"

  "You think Daek explains anything to someone like me? I just follow orders." Gyassan winced and held his side. "Damn, that hurts. Look, you don't stand a chance of getting out of here alive. But if you listen to me, I'll-"

  Bloodwraith jerked his sword out and reversed direction, cutting off the greencloak's head. Anything else that had come out of his mouth would have been lies, and no doubt some of what he had already said was at least deceptive. All Bloodwraith could trust was himself.

  A window popped up, declaring that he had received 522 EXP and a variety of items, but Bloodwraith forced it aside. He needed to figure this out, and fast. The others might find a way to open the door, or a way around this chamber. By the time they arrived, he needed an explanation for his actions other than greed.

  More importantly, Bloodwraith needed to understand Daek's real game here. Many of the pieces fell into place quickly: his goal had never been to actually clear the crypt, just to let adventurers die in it. That was why the corridors were clean, why past groups had failed to penetrate further, and why the treasure at the end was mostly fake.

  But the rituals, those were real... and ancient. Bloodwraith examined them more carefully, his eyes slowly widening as he understood more.

  These rituals drew off blood and death, yes, but they weren't for anything as natural as creating undead. No, these sigils represented an attempt to pierce the veil between worlds. When he examined the walls, he saw a large drawing of two spheres, one with geography he knew and another that was entirely alien. Symbols of magic swirled between them.

  [WARNING

  You have-]

  He willed the box away, but it reappeared a moment later. Unlike the others, this box was bright red and insistent.

  [WARNING

  You have encountered a local attempt to pass between worlds. This one is evaluated as a low threat, but should still be taken seriously.

  As soon as you complete your journey, report this incident and location to local administrators. You will be rewarded with a significant finder's fee in USD or the currency of your choice, as well as a completely free journey in an untainted world.

  If you encounter any sign that locals are actually attempting to make contact, locate the nearest Return Point as soon as possible and contact administrators. It cannot be stressed enough how critical this is, both for your experience and for the ongoing work of AdventureCorp.

  As a reward for your participation, you have been granted an additional 3 Stat Points.]

  Bloodwraith spent a long time staring at the box, committing the strange words to memory. Usually every word was comprehensible to him, if strangely used, but several of the terms he saw now appeared to be pure nonsense. Clearly, this box was designed for beings from another plane, not him.

  Still, the message told him several critical things. The box gods were not omnipotent or omniscient, since they needed to fear "local attempts" like this ritual. Their realm seemed mad, but it was likely another world like his, not some higher plane. They were capable of manipulating his world, but they had clear limits. Most importantly, the boxes were not reporting everything he did, if they needed their own kind to give reports of this event.

  Assuming that it wasn't all a deeper game to deceive him... but no, that way lay madness. This was valuable information, but it wouldn't do him any good unless he could act on it. In the short term, what he needed to do was leave the crypt.

  To that end, the additional points he had been awarded would be helpful. Bloodwraith brought up his personal box-

  [NOTICE: Stat Points cannot be assigned while in combat.]

  "Deplorable boxes!" Yet even as he cursed, Bloodwraith realized that he was being shortsighted. Perhaps they weren't mocking him, perhaps they represented something that he knew without consciously realizing it. As Bloodwraith listened more carefully, his blood ran cold.

  He could hear sounds of movement in the corridors surrounding him. Human movement, not monsters.

  Of course Daek wouldn't leave this to chance. He had hoped that the monsters would kill the adventurers, but if they survived and reported the fake treasure to the Guild, it would cause him even more trouble. So logically, he would have insurance nearby if it seemed like a group might clear the crypt.

  Judging from the sounds, Daek's men had him surrounded. He was in the bottom of the crypt, alone, and marked for death.

  Chapter 12

  Bloodwraith's first priority was to scan the pile of false treasure for anything useful, as he might not have time for such things later. Yet as his eyes flickered over a multitude of boxes, he found little that would help him. Some items of real value, but absolutely nothing that would help with survival - which made sense, given the purpose of the pile.

  Several artifacts were listed as "Uncommon" or higher, but they also clearly displayed the word "Cursed." Bloodwraith used his old peasant shirt to pick them up carefully and put them in his bag. They might have value, if he survived this. But for now, he needed to-

  A greencloak emerged from one of the tunnels, eyes widening as they saw each other. The man opened his mouth to yell and Bloodwraith threw himself at him without a second thought.

  Somehow he managed to grab the man's jaw and prevent him from yelling. The greencloak struggled for a moment before reaching for one of his knives. There was no way to draw his greatsword at close quarters like this, so Bloodwraith just grabbed the man's wrist. They struggled for a moment before Bloodwraith managed to smash the man back against the stone.

  That stunned him long enough to land several more blows, beating the man to death. Bloodwraith had done plenty of bloody work with his hands, but nothing like that. The strangest part was that he didn't even think about it, Raigar's body adapting to the violence easily.

  Dropping the body without bothering to loot it, Bloodwraith picked up the man's fallen torch and rushed down the corridor. He might be heading directly into enemies, but staying in the central chamber was sure to get him killed. His heart still pounding in his chest, Bloodwraith did his best to refocus. If he wanted to escape alive, he needed to take inventory of all his assets.

  For that, the boxes might actually be useful.

  [Name: Raigar

  Race: Human

  Class: Barbarian

  Alignment: Neutral

  Health: 107/161

  Mana: 8/13

  Weapon Mana: 4/6

  Stamina: 76/126

  Level: 7

  EXP: 4237/6400

  Statistics:

  Might: 25

  Vitality: 21

  Quickness: 21

  Intellect: 13

  Charisma: 11

  Willpower: 13

  Wisdom: 12

  Luck: 12

  Piety: 7

  Unassigned Stat Points: 8

  Combat Skills: Cleave (3), Fist of Rage (4), Sword of Rage (2)

  Skills: Two-handed Weapons (8), Evasion (3), Survivalism (2), Herbalism (5)

  Proficiencies: Greatsword, Heavy Armor]

  [Inventory (Extra-dimensional Bag)

  Equipment: Lodestone Greatsword, Quality Leather Armor Set, Quality Boots, Ring of Herbalism

  Items: Worn Steel B
reastplate, Alpha Pelt, Iron Golem Ore, Health Potions x8, Mana Potion x1, Failed Potion, Peasant's Outfit, Unappraised Cursed Items x8

  Key Items: Amulet of Reincarnation

  Money: 0 G, 75 S, 88 C]

  That was what he had. That was likely all he had, since trying to find more useful items in the crypt was a bad gamble. Though it was possible he could find some way back to the others, or that they would draw off some of the greencloaks, it was more likely that Daek hadn't expected them to be separated like this. Bloodwraith was on his own.

  Evading all the greencloaks was impossible: he knew nothing about their distribution and he had no skills that would allow him to do so. Since they seemed to have spread out, probably to hunt stragglers, he could at least avoid being completely overwhelmed. But he had no choice but to fight his way through, and to do that, he needed to conserve his resources.

  Then it would serve to consider those resources a little more carefully. Bloodwraith found a narrow room with no monsters and ducked inside, shielding the light of his torch. He spent a moment looking over everything in his inventory, willing more boxes into being, but found nothing particularly surprising. Except... there was one item he'd never looked at properly.

  [Amulet of Reincarnation

  Granted for a second life in Alliandelle. Cannot be stolen, sold, or destroyed.

  Perk: Enhanced Learning (EXP, AP, and SP will be acquired more quickly.)

  Perk: Enhanced Reputation (Reputation will rise faster and fall slower.)

  Perk: Enhanced Freedom (Guidelines and impact limitations have been lifted.)

  Perk: Ladies Man (Easier interactions with the opposite sex.)

  Perk: Clean Conscience (Limits potential trauma or regret.)]

  After reading the description properly, Bloodwraith scowled. Though the amulet unquestionably granted useful abilities, none of them were exactly miraculous in the middle of combat. And if Raigar had chosen such idiotic perks as "Ladies Man" or "Clean Conscience" then Bloodwraith hated him all the more.

  Strange as the amulet was, he had no time to think about it. He could hear soft footsteps in the corridor and knew the greencloak would see his torch once he got close enough. The survival trial had begun.

  While he still had time, he switched his current armor with the steel breastplate from his bag, just in case the additional "Armor" made the difference. He drank one of his potions and shivered as the healing flowed through him. It didn't quite heal all his injuries... but another one would be wasteful, so he resisted drinking a second.

  Instead he waited until the footsteps drew closer, then burst into the corridor, swinging his torch wildly. As he'd hoped, the sudden light made the greencloak flinch.

  Unfortunately, though the man used one arm to deflect the torch, he stabbed with the other. Bloodwraith pushed through the cut to his arm and struck the man on the face. This one fell much faster than Gyassan, collapsing against the wall after only two blows.

  But there was another greencloak down the corridor. He raised a wooden whistle to his lips and blew on it, leading to a haunting tone ringing through the tunnels.

  Bloodwraith lunged at him, stabbing straight into the man's chest. The blow killed him, but it was too late: other greencloaks would be converging on his location. For a moment Bloodwraith stared down at the body, concerned that things were already turning out worse... then he reconsidered.

  He grabbed the whistle and blew on it again, creating the same note. Then he scrambled forward, still blowing the whistle. Rushing through the corridors risked running straight into a greencloak knife, but if all went well...

  Soon he came out into a larger room, spacious enough that he could swing his sword properly. Only two entrances and he heard the footsteps coming from only one of them. This would have to do. The whistle trick would only work once, and the large room would give him a chance to use Sword of Rage. Despite its power, against humanoid opponents in small tunnels, the skill was actually his least valuable ability due to the difficulty in using it. So he ducked low, kept blowing the whistle, and waited for them.

  Soon three greencloaks rushed into the room, blades drawn. Their eyes searched for him... and found him rushing out of the shadows, swinging his blade with both hands.

  His blow struck all three of them hard enough to smash them back into the walls. Though their torches fell to the ground, one of them didn't go out. That gave him enough time to stab down into each of the fallen greencloaks and finish them off.

  Bloodwraith took a moment to catch his breath, admiring his work. He'd made them suspicious of any future whistle warnings and made excellent use of one of his resources. All he needed to do was-

  Another greencloak stabbed him in the back.

  The blow might have disabled him in a past life, but for once Raigar's excess muscle was good for something. Bloodwraith ignored the pain and pushed backward, slamming the greencloak into the wall. It was a halfling, silent but weighing far less than him. Striking the wall stunned the greencloak, and when Bloodwraith slammed the hilt of his sword against the side of his head, the halfling dropped instantly.

  Damn, but the injury in his back hurt. Bloodwraith pulled a health potion from his bag... and paused, checking his personal box.

  [Health: 117/161

  Mana: 9/13

  Weapon Mana: 1/6

  Stamina: 81/126]

  The potions seemed to restore exactly 50 of the "Health points," which meant if he drank one now, 6 points would be wasted. Feeling the pain almost made him reconsider, but then he noticed that his mana had increased by one point in between fights.

  No, he couldn't use the potion. His body's unnatural regeneration was also a resource, and if he restored his health completely, he would be wasting that. Bloodwraith focused on mental discipline to ignore the pain and set off down a different corridor.

  For a time he managed to avoid running into any more greencloaks, freeing him to control his movement. Twisting tunnels like this were familiar to him, so it was simple to maintain a map in his head. Since he wasn't fighting, he headed back in the direction that would lead him to the part of the crypt he had explored earlier. He might be able to meet up with the others there.

  Finding stairs, he headed up them as quietly as possible just before torches flickered in the corridors behind him. If he could evade their movements and return to the surface, then he could disappear into Cresthaven. Until then, he had to assume he was still in danger.

  As he moved he summoned his personal box again, noting that his health had increased slightly, even if the injury didn't feel any better. He considered letting more mana flow into his sword, but decided it was of more use to him in its current form.

  At the top of the stairs, a greencloak rushed at him from the shadows. Reacting on instinct, Bloodwraith jumped aside from the stabbing knife and slammed the side of his greatsword into his opponent. The greencloak dropped like a rock, so quickly that he was surprised.

  When he inspected more closely, he saw that the box declared this greencloak was only Level 3. Perhaps the Thieves Guild had sent some of their lesser members for this duty, assuming they could use numbers against heavily weakened adventurers.

  The sound of the fight would have attracted attention, so Bloodwraith started to move on... but something in the box caught his eye just as it disappeared. He hesitated, brought it back, and saw to his surprise that he could clearly see the equipment the greencloak carried. Two rings glinted on his hand, and according to the box, they were a Ring of Quickness and a Ring of Willpower. How did a low level fighter have such valuable items?

  Thinking about how much work it would take to purchase similar rings, Bloodwraith bent down and tugged them off the corpse's fingers. He slipped them onto his own, feeling satisfied... until he saw four more torches rush up from the staircase.

  Damn, he'd wasted too long. The patrol rushed at him and he only had time to raise his greatsword once. His thrust took the first greencloak in the chest, throwing her backw
ard, but the others dodged the bloody spray and charged in, getting inside his range and stabbing with their knives.

  He released a burst of force from his hand, staggering the other three... but not enough. One of them kept coming, shrugging off the spell, and sank a dagger into his stomach.

  Though the greencloak started to tear the blade to the side, Bloodwraith grabbed his wrist and twisted it, forcing him to drop the dagger. He headbutted the man, feeling like a true barbarian but too filled with pain and adrenaline to care. The other two were coming at him again, knives slashing out, now aiming to wear him down with shallower cuts.

  Instead of trying to use his greatsword against opponents who were so much faster than him, Bloodwraith rushed into their attacks, swinging his torch at one and slamming the other into the wall. The other immediately lunged, stabbing for his eyes, but Bloodwraith used one leg to send another burst of force and knock him off his feet.

  Though the greencloak against the wall managed to stab him again, Bloodwraith had enough strength to beat him until he stopped moving. The last of the four was clambering to his feet, but not quickly enough. Bloodwraith went back to pick up his greatsword, then slammed it down into the man's back.

  Though he should have pulled it out and prepared for another attack, Bloodwraith leaned forward onto the sword, catching his breath. He had lost track of how many shallow cuts had opened on his body. Though this bulky body could shrug off some wounds, he did not feel well.

  [Health: 34/161

  Mana: 3/13

  Stamina: 29/126]

  In this case, he agreed with the boxes. Bloodwraith limped down the corridor, pulling two potions from his sack and downing both. Though the magic began working, that didn't mean he felt much better. Even once their work was done, he would still have injuries, but drinking a third would be wasteful.

  Especially since he only had five potions remaining. That number no longer seemed so large.